Welcome to Cohasset

Cohasset is a coastal town in Norfolk County about 20 miles southeast of Boston by road, on Massachusetts Bay between Hull and Scituate. It pairs Cohasset Village and its historic Common with a working harbor, a rocky shoreline along Jerusalem Road and Atlantic Avenue, the inland village of Beechwood, wooded parks, and a station on the Greenbush commuter rail line.

About Cohasset

Native people fished and camped along this coast long before English settlement, and the name comes from a Massachusett word usually translated as "long rocky place." Cohasset began as part of Hingham, with land laid out in the mid-1600s and families arriving in the late 1600s. It became its own parish in 1717 and separated from Hingham in 1770. The town's first shipyard opened at the harbor in 1708, and fishing, especially for mackerel, peaked in the mid-1800s.

The South Shore Railroad reached Cohasset in 1849, and summer visitors followed. From the 1870s to the 1910s, large summer houses went up along Jerusalem Road and Atlantic Avenue, and after about 1915 Cohasset shifted toward a year-round town. Offshore, the first Minot's Ledge Light fell in an 1851 storm, and the granite tower that replaced it was lit in 1860. Its 1-4-3 flash is known locally as the "I Love You" light. Cohasset borders Hingham to the west, Hull to the northwest, and Scituate to the east and south, with Massachusetts Bay along its northern shore.

Getting Around

Cohasset station, off Route 3A, is on the MBTA Greenbush Line, with trains to South Station by way of Quincy Center and JFK/UMass. Nantasket Junction station in Hingham and North Scituate station are a short drive away. There is no MBTA bus service in town, and ferries to Boston leave from nearby Hingham and Hull. Route 3A, the Chief Justice Cushing Highway, crosses town between Hingham and Scituate, Route 228 runs along the Hingham line toward Hull, and Route 3 is a short drive inland.

Cohasset Real Estate

Cohasset real estate ranges from 18th-century houses around the Common to estate-era homes on the shore. Two-story center-chimney houses and Capes date from the 1700s, Federal houses followed after 1800, and side-hall cottages with Greek Revival and Italianate trim came in the mid-1800s. Along the shore, large summer houses from the late 1800s and early 1900s show Queen Anne, Tudor, Spanish Mission, and Arts and Crafts styles, and Colonial Revival homes and postwar houses fill in much of the rest of town.

The Cohasset Common Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1996, covers houses, churches, and Town Hall around the Common, and it is also a local historic district reviewed by a town commission. The Government Island Historic District holds the Minot's Light keepers' buildings. Public sewer covers the coastline but not all of town, so some homes use septic systems. Areas include Cohasset Village, the harbor and Border Street, Jerusalem Road and Atlantic Avenue, Little Harbor, and Beechwood.

Living in Cohasset

Sandy Beach on Atlantic Avenue is the main swimming beach, run by a nonprofit association with lifeguards in season, and parking requires a town sticker sold mainly to residents. The harbor has a yacht club, a sailing club, and a public boat launch, and Government Island holds a replica of the top of Minot's Light. Wheelwright Park off North Main Street has woodland paths and a skating pond, The Trustees' Whitney and Thayer Woods has about 10 miles of trails, and Wompatuck State Park has entrances in Cohasset.

The Cohasset Historical Society runs the Maritime Museum, the Captain John Wilson House, and the Beechwood Meetinghouse, with museums open in summer. The Paul Pratt Memorial Library sits just west of the town center, the South Shore Music Circus has hosted concerts in its tent theater since 1951, and the South Shore Arts Festival fills the Common each June.

Questions About Cohasset

How do you get to Boston from Cohasset?

Cohasset station on the MBTA Greenbush Line has trains to South Station. Ferries to Boston leave from nearby Hingham and Hull, and by car Route 3A and Route 3 lead toward Boston.

Can anyone use Cohasset's beaches?

Sandy Beach is run by the Sandy Beach Association, and parking requires a Town of Cohasset sticker, which is sold mainly to residents and to tenants with longer leases. Check the town's current permit rules before you go.

What is Minot's Ledge Light?

Minot's Ledge Light is a granite lighthouse on a ledge off the Cohasset shore, lit in 1860 after the first tower fell in an 1851 storm. Its 1-4-3 flash pattern is known as the "I Love You" light.

To see homes for sale in Cohasset, browse the listings below. Thinking of buying or selling in Cohasset? Call (617) 848-9616 or get a free home valuation. Cohasset is part of our South Shore guide.

Photos: Wwoods, CC BY-SA 3.0 and John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.